MLB roundup: Navarro, Encarnacion power Blue Jays win

Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Aaron Sanchez, right, shakes hands with catcher Dioner Navarro after closing out the Tampa Bay Rays during the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Blue Jays won the game 7-4. (CHRIS O’MEARA / The Associated Press)

Adam Lind had four consecutive hits and scored twice for the Blue Jays, who won a road series against the Rays for the first time since April 2007.

Marcus Stroman (9-5) pitched five shutout innings before giving up two runs and four hits in the sixth.

Navarro homered for the second straight night. Encarnacion’s 29th of the season capped a three-run fifth against starter Chris Archer (8-8) that gave Toronto a 6-0 lead.

Evan Longoria homered and drove in three runs for the Rays.

The game was held up for 30 minutes during the third inning when lightning struck a nearby power station, knocking out a bank of lights.

NATIONALS 8, DODGERS 5

Adam LaRoche came off the bench in the ninth inning and drove in five runs, including a tying homer and a go-ahead grounder in the 14th that sent the Washington Nationals to a wild 8-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday.

Asdrubal Cabrera added a two-run shot for the Nationals, who withstood two late rallies in a game that lasted 5 hours, 34 minutes — the longest at Dodger Stadium this season. Washington won two of three in the series, a potential playoff preview between NL division leaders.

All of LaRoche’s RBIs either tied the game or gave his team the lead. He delivered a pinch-hit, two-run homer off closer Kenley Jansen that tied it in the ninth and a go-ahead, two-run single in the 12th.

LaRoche then gave the Nationals the lead for good with a fielder’s choice grounder in the 14th after an error by shortstop Justin Turner. Ian Desmond scored on the play, and LaRoche beat the relay to first to avoid a potential inning-ending double play.

Blake Treinen (2-3), the 10th Nationals pitcher, finally made the lead stand up in a game that featured three blown saves.

Kevin Correia (2-3) took the loss.

Turner snapped a scoreless tie with a two-run homer in the seventh. Carl Crawford’s two-run shot tied it 5-all in the 13th.

CARDINALS 1, PIRATES 0

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Peter Bourjos singled home the winning run in the ninth inning, and St. Louis beat Pittsburgh to stretch its winning streak to five.

Yadier Molina walked with two outs in the ninth on a 3-2 pitch from Mark Melancon (2-4). Molina advanced to second on John Jay’s single and scored on the hit by Bourjos, easily beating the throw home from centre fielder Andrew McCutchen.

St. Louis moved into sole possession of the NL Central lead for the first time Monday and extended its margin with a three-game sweep that dropped the Pirates five games back. Pittsburgh has lost 10 of its last 12 road games, dropping to a major league-worst 17-29 away from home in day games.

The home runs negated a stellar start by Jon Lester (13-10) and helped Mariners ace Felix Hernandez (14-5) win for the first time in four outings.

Adam Dunn homered in the fourth for the only run Hernandez allowed in eight innings. He gave up three hits and struck out four to outduel Lester in a matchup of two of the AL’s best pitchers. The Mariners tagged Lester for seven hits in eight innings.

Fernando Rodney pitched a perfect ninth for his 41st save in 44 chances.

The A’s have lost seven of nine.

Dunn’s drive was his 22nd homer this season and the 462nd of his career, tying him with former A’s slugger Jose Canseco for 34th in major league history.

BRAVES 7, PHILLIES 4

ATLANTA (AP) — Rookie catcher Christian Bethancourt had three hits in his return to the major leagues, including a fifth-inning single that helped Atlanta break out of its scoring slump in a win over Philadelphia.

B.J. Upton hit a two-run homer in a three-run second as the Braves ended a 25-inning scoreless streak.

Bethancourt, recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday following a six-week demotion, drove in the Braves’ first run with an infield single and put Atlanta ahead 5-4 with an RBI single in the fifth.

Ervin Santana (14-7) won despite allowing four runs and seven hits in six innings. Craig Kimbrel closed for his major league-leading 42nd save in 46 chances.

Grady Sizemore hit a two-run homer in the third that tied the score at 3, and Ben Revere had three hits for his fourth straight multihit game.

Mario Hollands (2-2) took the loss.

Atlanta was shut out in three of its previous four games.

ROCKIES 9, GIANTS 2

DENVER (AP) — Nolan Arenado hit a go-ahead, three-run homer and Corey Dickerson followed with his second of the game, leading Colorado past San Francisco.

Christian Bergman (2-2) pitched six sharp innings, limiting the Giants to two runs on nine hits and helping the Rockies take the season series 10-9. It is the first time Colorado has won the season series with its NL West rival since going 11-7 against the Giants in 2008.

Ryan Vogelsong (8-10) was roughed up for a career-high four home runs among 10 hits allowed in five-plus innings. He gave up eight runs, matching a career high.

ORIOLES 6, REDS 0

BALTIMORE (AP) — Miguel Gonzalez pitched a four-hitter for his first career complete game, and the Orioles hit three home runs off Dylan Axelrod in a victory over the Reds.

Gonzalez (8-7) had a season-high eight strikeouts, walked one and allowed only one hit through the first seven innings — a line drive single to Ryan Ludwick in the fifth.

The Reds added two singles in the eighth before leaving the bases loaded, and Jay Bruce singled with two outs in the ninth.

David Lough and Jonathan Schoop hit solo shots before Chris Davis connected with a man on in the fourth to make it 4-0. That was more than enough offence for Gonzalez, who has given up four runs over his last 27 1-3 innings.

Axelrod (1-1) took the loss.

YANKEES 5, RED SOX 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Brian McCann homered among his career high-tying four hits and the Yankees bounced back to end a three-game losing streak, beating the Red Sox.

McCann homered a day earlier as the Yankees got battered by Boston, leaving them five games behind for the second AL wild-card spot. In the rematch with the last-place Red Sox, he drove in three runs and gave an early cushion to Hiroki Kuroda (10-8).

Anthony Ranaudo (3-1) lost for the first time in his four starts since making his big league debut. Boston kept up its weeklong pattern of alternating wins and losses.

INDIANS 7, TIGERS 0

CLEVELAND (AP) — Danny Salazar pitched his first career shutout, scattering eight hits, and the Indians beat the Tigers.

Salazar (6-6), who has pitched 17 consecutive scoreless innings, was given a loud ovation by the sparse crowd of 11,739 when he took the mound for the ninth. The fans were on their feet throughout the inning and roared when Nick Castellanos struck out to end the game.

Salazar pumped his fist after Castellanos swung and missed at his 118th pitch.

Carlos Santana hit a two-run homer in the first off Justin Verlander (12-12), who allowed seventh runs in 6 2-3 innings.

METS 4, MARLINS 3

MIAMI (AP) — Travis d’Arnaud hit a go-ahead double in the eighth inning to lift New York over Miami.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a two-run homer, and Matt den Dekker had three hits for the Mets, who won two of three in the series.

Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton homered for the third consecutive game to give him 36 on the season and bring Miami to 4-3 in the eighth after the Mets took a two-run lead in the top half.

Vargas (11-7) stranded four runners in scoring position before turning over a two-on, two-out mess to Kelvin Herrera, who escaped the jam. Louis Coleman gave up a run in the eighth before Wade Davis finished the inning. Greg Holland worked a perfect ninth for his 42nd save.

The victory, along with Detroit’s loss to Cleveland, allowed the first-place Royals to extend their lead to 1 1/2 games over the Tigers in the AL Central.

Nick Tepesch (4-9) gave up four runs in 6 2-3 innings for Texas, which lost its fifth straight.

Soler became the second player in Cubs history with as many as 10 RBIs in his first seven games. The rookie joined Mandy Brooks, who had 12 RBIs in 1925, as the only Chicago players to accomplish the feat.

Kyle Hendricks earned his fifth straight win. Hendricks (6-1) allowed two runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings. The right-hander did not walk or strike out a batter.

With five rookies in the lineup, the Cubs completed their first three-game sweep of the Brewers since August 2004.

Milwaukee concluded a 1-8 road trip and fell three games behind first-place St. Louis in the NL Central.

Chicago never trailed after Chris Valaika hit a two-run homer off ex-Cub Matt Garza in the second. Garza (7-8) failed to get past the third inning. The right-hander allowed six runs on eight hits and a walk. He had been on the disabled list since Aug. 4 because of a strained left oblique.

TWINS 11, WHITE SOX 4

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kennys Vargas homered for the second consecutive night and Eduardo Nunez had four hits as Minnesota defeated Chicago.

The Twins broke loose for five runs in a rain-delayed fifth inning to break a 3-all tie and set up Trevor May (1-4) for his first major league win. Vargas’ RBI single and Eduardo Escobar’s two-run triple did the bulk of the damage.

Vargas added a long two-run homer in the sixth. Since being called up from the minors on Aug. 1, Vargas has 31 RBIs — third-most in the majors during that span.

John Danks (9-10) gave up seven runs and 11 hits in 4 2-3 innings. Dayan Viciedo hit a two-run homer for the White Sox.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, PADRES 1

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Daniel Hudson returned from two reconstructive elbow operations to pitch in the big leagues for the first time in more than two years, and David Peralta drove in two runs to help Arizona beat San Diego.

Hudson became the fourth pitcher to undergo Tommy John surgery in consecutive years and return to the majors. Hudson, who won 16 games for Arizona in 2011, retired the side in the eighth on 13 pitches and was warmly greeted by his teammates when he reached the dugout.

Hudson hadn’t pitched since June 26, 2012, when he originally tore his ulnar collateral ligament. He underwent surgery 15 days later. Hudson tore the ligament again during a rehab start with Double-A Mobile on June 4, 2013, and was operated on two weeks later.

Josh Collmenter (10-7) won his third straight start, holding San Diego to one run in seven innings.